I Am Legend’s band performs live at Jecheon

The drama I Am Legend has made it a point to feature real musical performances from its lead actresses, who comprise the Comeback Madonna Band in the show. The foursome rocked out again in a live stage performance on August 12, at the Jecheon International Music Film Festival’s opening ceremony.

The band members are Kim Jung-eun on vocals and rhythm guitar, Juni on lead guitar, Hong Ji-min on bass, and Jang Shin-young behind the drumset. They’ve performed live before, at the Pentaport Rock Festival, footage from which was used in the drama. At Jecheon, they performed the songs “Comeback Madonna,” “Killing Me Softly,” “Love Love Love,” “A Million Roses,” and “A Fine Day.”

One thing I particularly like about the drama is its use of the music; it doesn’t merely form a background score, but often echoes an emotional beat. It’s why I think Kim Jung-eun’s voice works really well for the part; it’s a little rough, but she’s not supposed to be a polished idol star and she has a great ability to convey her character’s emotions while performing, which isn’t an easy feat.

The song selections are mostly modernized rock versions of famous old pop songs from the ’80s or ’90s, which makes sense if the band was popular in their high school days. One example is “A Fine Day” (or “A Day I Feel Great”), which was prominently featured in Episode 4, sung by Kim Wan-sun in 1989. (The drama’s rendition seems to be borrowing Loveholic’s remake, however, down to the guitar riffs.)

The tune that the band played in Episode 1 at the outdoor stage is “황홀한 고백” (A Blissful Confession) by Yoon Su-il, also from the ’80s. “백만송이 장미” (A Million Roses) (below) is another old pop hit, which ended Episode 4:

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“A Million Roses” has been redone numerous times, and for another example, here’s a classical-pop fusion version from a group I’ve posted about before, I.S. (Infinite of Spring):

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I Am Legend has performed solidly in its first two weeks, and with the ratings increasing with each episode, it looks poised to become a hit. Personally, I’m really enjoying the story and the acting (and the music), so I look forward to what the new episodes bring.

August 15, 2010 at 12:10 AM

UNREGISTERED

yeah i love korean drama but i've always somehow felt that kpop was lacking..i just dont feel connected to SNSD OR SUJU
theres no originality: i dont think they even write their own music..its like they've all been cast from the same plastic surgery enhanced double eye lidded autotuned mold
i wish java beans would do a piece on the prominence of IDOL GROUPS on the kpop scene

August 15, 2010 at 11:12 AM

UNREGISTERED

this drama was such a nice surprise! when i first heard about it kim sunah was attached to the project but when they made the switch to KJE i was interested. i thought she was a much better fit and i think i was right :)